She quickly rose to the top in 2008 with three number one hits
off of her debut album. Becoming an
overnight success she dropped an EP in 2009 that only furthered her success as
an international superstar. Her second
studio album, “Born This Way”, was released in 2011, selling around 8 million copies worldwide. Just this past year in 2013 she released her
third studio album, “ARTPOP” which is receiving mixed reviews, but her fans
continue to remain loyal to her.
What’s
the draw?
Is it the outfits? She has worn some crazy outfits, dressing up
as meat, or with a crazy amount of Kermit the frogs on herself, but that’s not
the real reasons kids are drawn to her.
In an article in the Guardian magazine
we can have a greater understanding as to why so many teenagers are drawn to
this woman,
To
her hardcore fans (or "Little Monsters"), she's not only the greatest
pop star on the planet, but a sort of cult leader whose mantra of self-love,
implemented on her last album Born This Way, acts as their Bible. (2)
Selling out all over the globe, Gaga
looks at her adoring fans and see’s young people who are hurting with a desire
to be accepted and loved. She has been
given a platform through her music to speak to the generations of teenagers
that feel like they never quite fit in.
She often shares how she was bullied in school, which a lot of kids can
relate with and so they feel a connection with her through her music and her
story. As quoted earlier in The Guardian Magazine
these kids are looking to her as their leader. She calls her fans “little monsters” and they
adoringly call her “Mother Monster”. They
look to her words as their source of truth.
They allow her lyrics to become their voice and through it their minds
are being shaped by the words that she preaches from her music. She even believes that she has revolutionary
potential,
Someone said to me, 'If you have revolutionary potential,
you have a moral imperative to make the world a better place.' And my fans are
a revolution. They are living proof that you don't have to conform to anything
to change the world."(3)
I find it really ironic that Lady Gaga
is quoted as saying that she doesn’t believe her fans have to conform to
anything in order to change the world when in reality they are conforming to her
message.
Gaga told Elle
magazine that she writes about what she knows: sex, pornography, art, fame obsession, drugs, and alcohol
(1).
It seems to me like Gaga’s got something more to say to our teenagers
than “Just Dance”.
Although her music has a great draw to
young people. It doesn’t offer lasting
hope. One young fan wrote a tribute to
Lady Gaga thanking her for the impact she’d made upon his life right before he
took his own life. He shared how the
song “Born This Way” spoke to him. (4)
Although the song spoke to him, it certainly didn’t offer true healing
from his pain.
The
Message
What exactly is Mother Monster’s message
then that is spreading to her little monsters all over the globe?
Gaga admits that her life experiences
have shaped a lot of the messages she sends in her music, I had really tried to hide a lot of my pain from my past in the last
few years," she says towards the end of the interview, whereas at the
Roundhouse a new song, Swine, is introduced with, "My heart, my skin and
my pussy felt like trash. (2)
She also shares in an interview with
Rolling Stone, This huge wound that had been inside of me for so long that
I had buried in drugs and alcohol and older men and over and over in a cycle of
just unhappiness with myself and looking outward to fix it, to numb it. My fans
forced me to respond to it."(3)
A lot of kids can relate with a wound
inside of them. Gaga chooses to fill
that wound with sex, alcohol and drugs. She
even admits to feeling like trash, which a lot of kids can relate with as
well. To her life is really just one big
party and we can see that through her music in songs like “Sexy Ugly”
Everybody
wants to be like us,
Filthy glamorous.
We know how to party
Sexy ugly.
Rock like us, silly and gorgeous.
Real Hot Body
Sexy ugly.
She said she feels like trash and the
message comes across loud and clear in songs like “Do What U Want”. In a duo with R. Kelly where the song becomes
overtly sexual, Gaga spreads a message that your body is just something to be
used. It’s no wonder she feels like
trash.
You
can’t stop my voice, cause
You
don’t own my mind, but
Do
what you want with my body
She also sends messages to teenagers
about who God is. Growing up in the
Catholic school system she’s created some of her own thoughts about Jesus.
In
the most Biblical sense,
I am beyond repentance
Fame hooker, prostitute wench, vomits her mind
But in the cultural sense
I just speak in future tense
Judas, kiss me if offenced,
Or wear an ear condom next time
I wanna love you,
But something’s pulling me away from you
Jesus is my virtue,
Judas is the demon I cling to
I cling to
She goes on further to share her own
thoughts about what God would have to say about human sexuality. In her song, “Born This Way” she supports all
types of sexuality encouraging her listeners to accept the fact that they were
born bisexual or homosexual. God makes
no mistakes and so they can’t help it that they were just born that way.
I'm
beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
A
different lover is not a sin
Believe capital H-I-M (Hey hey hey)
The message is coming across loud and
clear. Life is all about pleasure. It’s all about sex and God is not the
ultimate source of truth, you are. God
shouldn’t be feared, so we should feel free to embrace the party lifestyle and
live our life however we please.
Lady Gaga impresses a message of pure
destruction on young people that is filled with deception, encouraging
teenagers to explore their sexuality, let others use their bodies however they
please and make life into one big party.
yet we let our teenagers listen to her music without a second thought. I’ll admit the tunes are catchy, but the
message is catching the hearts of young people in the wrong way as they buy
into the message she is sharing.
How
Should We Respond?
As Christians we need to practice wise
discernment when it comes to the music we allow our children to listen to. I believe there a few guidelines that we as
adults can follow;
1.
Understand
that there is an enemy. I
believe one of Satan’s greatest tools for deception is through music. Music has a way of connecting with people in
a way that is unique unto itself. We
must recognize as Christians that some music is purely demonic. Satan has an agenda and there are such
singers like Lady Gaga whom he is using to get his message across.
2.
Affirm
Lady Gaga’s gifts. She
obviously has been given some great gifts musically. There is no question that she is a talented
woman. However, we should be teaching
our children that our gifts are to be used to further God’s kingdom for His
greater glory. These gifts were given to her by God, but unfortunately
the choice has been made to use them for evil instead of for good.
3.
Understand
that the type of music your child listens to is a window into their world. If your child feels a
connection with someone like Lady Gaga why is that? Are they hurting? Do they feel like an outcast that no one
understands and they feel a certain connection with someone like Lady Gaga who
dealt with rejection and being bullied herself? Are they confused about their
sexuality? Don’t take these realizations
lightly. The music your child listens to
can you help you better understand their world and their struggles. Then, ask them why they listen to certain
music. Try to understand where they are
coming from and why.
4.
Set
boundaries on the music you allow your child to listen to. It’s ok to be the bad
guy, you’re the parents and one of your roles in raising your child is to
protect them from things that would be harmful to them. We know that ingesting poison would be a
terrible idea for our children to do, so of course we would keep them from
doing that, but what about the poison that can distort their minds through
music? It’s our role as adults to keep
them from ingesting that poison.
5.
Recognize
that the music industry does not have your child’s best interest in mind. The mainstream music
industry is out to make money. That is
their number one concern. Their
influence has nothing to do with helping raise whole, healthy human beings. It has everything to do with doing whatever
it takes, even if they know the message is fleeting and harmful, to make as
much money as possible.
6.
Find
Christian music that is similar to the style of music your child likes. As a Youth Worker I
have had multiple experiences where after introducing a student to a Christian
band they are blown away with how much they like them and often make the
comment that they like the Christian music better than the mainstream
stuff. Students often don’t know of
other music out their because its never been introduced to them and so we as
adults need to have a good grasp of the Christian music out there that is life
giving and full of the gospel message.
Just make sure its up to date and not the band you use to jam to “back
in your day”.
7.
Take
your children to the Bible. If
they are listening to music that is contrary to scripture they are going to be
confused about what the right worldview is.
Take them to the Bible and help them understand it. Teach them what God’s word has to say. Don’t just tell them their music is bad; help
them understand why. Kids don’t often
see the “bigger picture” of things and we as adults need to help them
understand the fullness of God’s plan for our lives. In doing so they’ll better understand why God
would want to keep them from listening to certain music.
8.
Recognize
that children have been wounded. We
all have a deep longing to be loved and somewhere along the line a child has
experienced some type of heartache that they will try to remedy. They will follow the popular ways of the
culture and the message that Mother Monster tries to preach to them if we don’t
give them the hope of the gospel. As
parents and mentors we need to be teaching our young people the truth of the
gospel. Jesus came to set them free and
to heal their wounds. This message
offers so much hope and we have the joy of sharing it with those who are
desperately hurting.
9.
We
should share Lady Gaga’s compassion to reach the hurting. She
makes it quite clear that she wants to try to reach out to those who have been
bullied or have been made to feel like an outcast. We too should have the same approach. We can learn something from her in that
regard, but we obviously need to have a different approach with our message.
10. Realize the real problem is sin. We live in a fallen
world where sin has come in and tainted what God had originally made good. We have a responsibility now as Christians to
help redeem music and bring it back to the goodness God intended for it. We can’t play around with sin though and
expect not to get burnt by it. Allowing
our young people to listen to music like Lady Gaga’s will only set them on a
slippery slope, even if its just one or two songs. Help your child instead recognize that God
has called them to a great purpose in helping redeem music and use any gifts
they might have musically for God’s glory.
Summary
Lady Gaga has been given a stage, a
microphone and a platform to speak into the lives of young people. We as adults need to understand that there is
an enemy who wants to pull out kids away from the truth. Satan wants to use people, like Lady Gaga, to
preach destructive messages to our kids.
Let’s not fear the battle, but lets engage the culture. Seeking to understand so that we can reach
out children with the truth of the gospel message.
Bibliography
11. .people.com/people/lady_gaga/biography/
2 2. theguardian.com/music/2013/sep/03/lady-gaga-people-think-im-finished
33. rollingstone.com/music/news/deep-inside-the-unreal-world-of-lady-gaga-20110609?page=2
4 4. dailymail.co.uk
